Night Noodle Market

Avoid.  Christchurch Night Noodle Market.  Nice idea, poorly executed.  It is my daughter's birthday today and I thought it would be nice to go to the night noodle market.  Last night was the first time ever and there were reports of difficult access, long queues and stalls running out of food.  That's all because it was far more successful than anticipated, so difficult to criticize.  Improvements were   promised for tonight, with parking in Hagley Park.  We arrived and parked easily.  Entered the food stall zone and there was a great atmosphere.  Queued for about 15 minutes - not bad.  Then it all went down hill.  Food portions were expensive and tiny.  Once we'd eaten we were all still hungry, and couldn't face queuing again, so decided to get something on the way home.  Getting out of the parking area was a nightmare.  There was no traffic management, so vehicles couldn't get out onto the road.  I literally went nowhere for 20 minutes - didn't move at all.  It took an hour to get out onto the road.  By the time we got to the alternative takeout place, it was closed.  Dropped the kids home and called the next choice.  Closed.  And the next.  We had eggs on toast.

I hope the noodle market is a success.  It's a great concept, but a few things need to be significantly improved before I could recommend it.  For now, my advice is stay the heck away.